The Benefits of Online Collaboration

Smart, sophisticated online software is changing the way we pool our talents and work together. The latest in office apps mean that as long as each member of the team has an effective internet connection, they really can be working not just from home but anywhere in the world without compromising any of the team’s coordination or productivity.

The benefits of integrating such software into the company fabric are manifold. Here are some of the key ways in which online collaboration software is helping companies become more efficient and contemporary.

Remote working

Having team members work away from a physical office has many associated advantages. Among them, a company is not limited to its local resources and so can bring in talent from further afield or from a more economic region.

Equally, a business trip, sick day or extreme weather doesn’t mean that the individual in question cannot contribute to the team’s work for that day or period.

Workers feel empowered when they know they have the flexibility to work at the place of their choosing, helping to keep everybody motivated and focused, with the added benefit of saving on travel costs.

Furthermore, the company can do away with much of the office space that would otherwise have to be rented, making operations considerably more cost-efficient.

Instant resource sharing

Sophisticated online collaborative tools mean that workers are connected to everybody else, individually or all at once, at the same time. This means that whether you are sharing an office or building or not, it is incredibly quick and easy for everyone to interact as and when necessary, to whatever level they wish.

No need, then, to book a meeting room half a day in advance in order to give a presentation or go over a particular matter – all that can take place in a group real-time chat, conference call, or with cloud file sharing.

In fact the sharing of intellectual resources is virtually instantaneous with cloud technology and infinitely more efficient than it would be otherwise, with everybody enjoying the same access to the same knowledge base at the same time.

Project setup, observation and tracking

Managing project work is also much more practical and rounded with a sophisticated online collaboration tool. It’s straightforward to assign tasks, milestones and deadlines, and with every worker able to see the progress of their colleagues, people tend to be more focused and motivated to get the task completed on time.

Documents are stored together in one accessible location, too, with additional tools that allow for task progress to be analysed and tracked, meaning that you can see how a project has progressed over the course of its timeline.